Recent data from The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, obtained by Verite News, found lead present in roughly 70% of the more than 1,100 households that participated in the city’s first free residential water testing program between September 2022 and May 2025. 

With the city’s lead pipe replacement delayed until at least late 2027, residents face continued exposure to lead, a potent neurotoxin with no safe exposure level.

“Lead is one contaminant of concern in drinking water that we have to be vigilant about,” said Adrienne Katner, associate professor of environmental and occupational health at Louisiana State University Health School of Public Health.  “Even at very low doses, lead can accumulate in the body, specifically in our bones, and it can remain there for 40-plus years.”

City data not publicly released

The SWBNO’s residential tap testing data is currently the city’s most complete picture of lead in the water supply. The highest household lead level recorded was more than 100 times the federal action level.

The distinction between what is federally permissible and what is safe is critical. 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s current action level is 15 parts per billion, meaning there can be up to 15 parts per billion of lead — less than a few drops in a big pool — in the water supply before water systems are required to take action to reduce the levels. 

The action level will likely drop to 10 ppb in 2027 under updated federal rules. 

But the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 1 ppb, and public health experts say there is no safe level of lead in drinking water. 

Nearly every home in the SWBNO’s testing program that showed detectable lead exceeded the EPA’s 0 ppb maximum contaminant level goal for lead in drinking water.

“Many public health professionals, when they hear that a city meets the regulatory requirements for lead in drinking water, feel they don’t have to worry about it,” Katner said. “But the EPA has always insisted that the Lead and Copper Rule is not a health-based regulation. It helps the EPA to prioritize cities that might have the worst lead lines.”

The risk is not limited to pipes that the SWBNO tested. 

Construction activity, such as repairs to the water main breaks in early 2025, can spike lead levels in nearby homes by sending lead particulates into a home’s plumbing, where they can leach into tap water for years afterward.

Katner said the SWBNO has consistently failed to warn residents before this kind of work takes place, including at her own home, where they replaced a meter without any advance notice. She said a simple doorknob flyer would be enough.

“Just giving people that information before you actually do the work on a pipe or main or meter. All of those things can impact the amount of lead that goes in the water,” Katner said.

The SWBNO testing program is still ongoing, so residents can request a free testing kit from the utility. 

The SWBNO did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

Independent testing by the Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans corroborated those findings. In a 2024 study, the nonprofit sampled tap water from 144 residences across 37 New Orleans neighborhoods over 16 weeks.

“We found lead in 88% of residences that we tested,” Samantha Cooke, former communications coordinator for the Water Collaborative, said. 

The Water Collaborative also surveyed participants: 65% said they did not know whether their homes had lead pipes, and only 8% said they knew they did.

“You can’t make educated choices for your health or your family’s health without having that data,” Cooke said.

Lead around campus

The risk of lead includes students living in older Uptown houses. Lead in drinking water is invisible, odorless and not neutralized by boiling.

Cooke said that some New Orleans residents recently received letters from the SWBNO notifying them of the status of their pipes under a new federal rule. For many, the letters said their pipe status was “unknown,” leaving them without guidance.

Other residents received letters indicating that SWBNO records show that “the water service line on [their] property contains lead,” according to a letter sent to Tulane senior Caroline Lavie at her off-campus house.

“On top of the boil water advisories and water main breaks, I honestly just laughed,” Lavie said about receiving the letter at her off-campus house. “I shook my head once again because this is so typical of New Orleans.”

Even if New Orleans is a temporary home for some Tulane students, the issue may follow them wherever they go. There are an estimated 4 million lead service lines in use across the United States, concentrated in cities with older infrastructure.

“Even if New Orleans is not a place you choose to stay, it will likely impact you on a personal level,” Cooke said. “Nothing stays isolated.”

Footing the bill

The financial stakes extend well beyond the pipes themselves. 

The SWBNO estimates it will cost approximately $1 billion to replace all of the city’s lead pipes by the federally mandated 2037 deadline. With the Trump administration unlikely to fill funding gaps, that burden may be on residents across New Orleans.

“With an administration that is not interested in federally funding state and local projects, this burden is going to increasingly fall on the states and cities,” Cooke said. “And if they can’t find the money, who does it fall to? It falls to the ratepayers.”

The SWBNO hoped to sign a contractor to replace the service lines by the end of 2024. The process stalled after a bid protest invalidated their selection of CDM Smith in May 2025 because the final selection panel failed to include an expert in the field, and a lengthy rebid followed. 

The committee chose CDM Smith again this month. The full board will vote on April 22, leaving ten years to replace the lines before the federal deadline.

The Louisiana Constitution bars public money from being used to replace the portion of lead service lines on private property. This restriction blocks the city from completing the full replacements required by federal rules. 

Two bills before the Louisiana State Legislature, SB228 and SB268, would create separate pathways for the SWBNO to replace lead lines on private property using public funds.

In the meantime, both experts recommended purchasing an NSF/ANSI 53-certified water filter.

“You can get a very low-cost Brita pitcher filter or faucet mount filter. They work great, and you can reduce your exposure up to 99%,” Katner said.

The SWBNO also offers a free lead-filtering pitcher upon request.

“The solution should be that we can trust our public water,” Cooke said. “It is far from a New Orleans-only issue. It bleeds out everywhere, even if you’re not at the epicenter.”